


Freezing

by M_Mary93



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Canada, Cold, Danger, Freezing, Hurt, Hurt Jack, Hurt leg, Hurt!Jack, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Leg, Snow, Wilderness, Worried Mac, Worried!Mac, almost freezing to death, ankle, in the middle of nowhere, injured, injured leg, injuries, knee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 07:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9224369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_Mary93/pseuds/M_Mary93
Summary: Our boys are in the Canadian wilderness, trying to find the storage place for a weapon of mass destruction. It's supposed to be an easy job, no one is chasing them, no one is shooting at them... Just the subzero temperatures and a little wind, nothing they can't handle in their sleep. Well, it could have been that simple... But something happens to Jack.





	1. Deep waters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mothicalcreatures (laelreenia)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/laelreenia/gifts).



> Okay, so this one was sparked by a fic by mothicalcreatures here at AO3, called ‘baby it’s cold’. If you haven’t read it yet, I advise you to take a trip over and do just that. It just left me with so many ideas, and this is what I came up with.

 

They were deep inside the Canadian wilderness. A place where no one really needed or wished to be in the middle of January.

“Gaaah… It’s freezing!” Mac growled, blowing some heat into his mittens.

“Please tell me something I don’t know, kid…” Jack winced and he stuffed his hands inside his coat.

They were trudging through the frozen wilderness, hoping to find the place where an operation called NWX stocked their latest weapon.

“You think we’ll find it before nightfall?” Jack asked, “We’ve been wandering around here for almost a week now…

Mac shrugged, “Sure hope so…”

“Okay, before we freeze solid, let’s get going…”

Mac nodded in return, and checked his GPS, “Yeah, we’ve still got a few miles to go before we can call it a night…”

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They had barely continued walking when it happened. One second, Jack was walking behind him. The next, Mac heard a distressed yelp, and Jack was nowhere in sight.

Mac looked around, and saw disturbance in the snow down the hill they were walking along. Figuring that a wrong step, plus the laws of physics would equal Jack being at the bottom of the hill.

“Jack?!” he called out as he started making his way down the steep hill.

“Jack, are you alright?”

Mac got anxious as his friend didn’t answer, so he hurried as fast as his snowshoes would carry him.

“Jack?!”

“Here!” Jack called out as Mac reached the bottom of the hill.

Mac saw the tracks Jack had left, but didn’t see Jack. Until he got closer.

“You okay?”

“No!” Jack grimaced, “Get me outta here!”

He didn’t have to give the order twice. Mac knew that staying in the ice cold water would suck the heat out of Jack very quick. But once he had Jack out of the water, he would have to find some source of heat for him. Fast.

“Can you grab my hand?”

“Little busy holding on to this ice…” Jack scowled back, as he fought against the current under him.

“Okay, okay…” Mac shouldered out of his backpack, searched the top pocket and came up with a rope. “Can you grab on to a rope?”

“Yeah, as long as I don’t have to let go of the ice before I can grab it…” Jack said as a shiver ran through him.

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“Ready?” Mac asked as he got ready to pull Jack out by the rope.

Jack nodded, and let go of the ice.

He let out a long moan as he was safely back on the snow.

“Take off your clothes and run around. Move. Get that blood of yours pumping a bit…” Mac ordered as he started unpacking his own sleeping bag.

“I can’t…” Jack growled, as he sat up and started getting his backpack off.

“Jack, it’s important.”

“I know!” Jack bit back, shivering, “But I won’t be walking anytime soon, kid…”

“What happened?”

“My snowshoe caught on something, yanked my leg good…” Jack grimaced as he stripped out of his wet coat.

“Well, is it broken?”

“I don’t know… But I do know that it hurts, and my other leg is so cold that I can’t feel it at all…”

“That doesn’t sound too good…”

Jack gave an agreeing nod, as he started unbuckling the snowshoes, and untying his shoes. The footwear on his left came off easily, as expected. His right shoe and snowshoe on the other hand.

“Mac, I’m gonna need some help here…” Jack winced and pointed at the leg.

“Okay, but first. Put on my coat… You’re going to get hypothermia if we don’t get some warmth in you quickly…”

“Thank you, but you need to be careful too… It’s cold out here, not smart to be running around without a coat for long.”

“Well, as soon as you’re out of your wet clothes, you’re crawling into a sleeping bag.” Mac informed as he grabbed a hold of Jack’s snowshoe, causing Jack to shout out in pain.

“This isn’t good…”  Mac whispered to himself, looking up at Jack’s contorted expression. “I’m sorry, buddy…”

Jack gasped, and shook his head. “Go on kid…”

He used a few more seconds before he forced out another comment, “It needs to be done…”

“Yes it does…” Mac frowned as he tried to get Jack’s foot free, without causing too much pain. “I’m sorry, this is going to hurt no matter how careful I am…”

Jack just nodded, he knew that too.

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“It’s already swollen…” Mac said with dismay, as he took a closer look once Jack was dry and inside a sleeping bag.

“What do you think Mac?” Jack hissed, trying not to cry out in pain.

“I think you’re right about not walking anytime soon…” Mac winced in sympathy as he started wrapping the leg in and ACE wrap using one of Jack’s ski poles to make a better splint to immobilize Jack’s ankle and knee.

“Does it look bad?”

“Given that you’re squirming like a worm… I’d say it’s worth worrying about…” Mac said and settled Jack’s leg on top of a waterproof packing bag full of air. “Are you going to be alright with the fire and the sleeping bag until I figure out a way to transport you? There’s a cabin a few miles away, according to the GPS and the map.”

Jack nodded, but shuddered from the cold.

“Just call out if you need me… I’ll try to be quick.” Mac assured Jack and nudged his friend’s shoulder.

“Yeah, buddy…” Jack nodded, as his teeth was clattering.

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He was freezing, his skin hurt and pulsated from the cold. But that was nothing compared to how his leg was pounding. Because that was off the charts.

He placed his hands at his armpits, hoping that he would get some warmth back in his fingers. He should probably do something about his toes too, but given how bad his right leg hurt, he wouldn’t be able to reach them.

He reached up and pulled the sleeping bag a little higher, enough to cover his nose too.

Jack almost couldn’t grasp how fast things had gone sideways. One minute, they were on a hiking trip. A long, cold and challenging hiking trip, but a hiking trip all the same. There were no bad guys around, no one was shooting at them. It was safe. One of the easiest missions they had had, ‘dangerwise’.  
The next minute, he’s tumbling down a hill, screwing his leg up to a level he doesn’t even recognize. He takes a involuntary dip in some almost frozen stream, and now he can’t move around on his own and he’s freezing his ass off.

One part of his brain told him to scream for Mac. Hoping that Mac would keep him company and help warm him up faster. The other part of his brain, the part he had learned to trust on missions and when things really went south, told him to sit tight, warm his hands and wait for Mac to build a sleigh or something to transport him to the cabin.

He felt a tear travel down the side of his face, almost ending up inside his ear.

“No, no… I can’t cry now…” he moaned, wiping away the cold, wet trail. “I can’t do that to myself… Or Mac…”

‘ _Kid is freaked out enough as it is…’_ he then added, but only in his mind.

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Mac returned a little while later, with an improvised sleigh to transport Jack with. It wouldn’t be comfortable for Jack, or easy for Mac, but it would get them from A to B together.

“How are you holding up?” Mac asked, concerned blue eyes searching Jack’s features.

“Freezing.” Jack grimaced, “And in pain… But… Could you warm my toes? I can’t reach them, and they’re painfully cold…”

“Sure…” Mac nodded and opened the bottom end of the sleeping bag Jack was nestled inside. “Both feet?”

Jack nodded, and braced himself for whatever discomfort was bound to come next.

The scream that left Jack’s throat as Mac _gently_ lifted his injured leg, could possibly awaken the dead.

Mac whispered an apology, which Jack waved off with an ‘It’s not your fault, kid…’

Jack relaxed as his feet was pressed against the kid’s warm stomach. He almost began laughing at the mild explicit leaving the younger agent’s lips when the kid noted how cold Jack’s feet were against his warm body. Body heat… Still the best way to warm up. That, and hot showers…

 


	2. Arriving at the cabin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those of you who’ve watched the latest ep already(Small spoilers, so just skip the note text if you don’t want any pointers to ep 1x12);  
> Intro, who else could have watched that on loop for hours? I know I could! (Think I spent a good 15 minutes replaying that scene. And that hug!!!)  
> And the first scene after the title… Two things there…  
> 1: The very niiiiice position of Mac. I mean, I think we all can thank the camera crew for that little treat of angle. And guys working on motorcycles… One word; HOT!  
> -And-  
> 2: Who else wanted to go all Katniss Everdeen when Jack talked about that it would be nice to see some ‘little Jack’s’ running around? *I volunteer!*
> 
>  
> 
> Hello again, hope you enjoy…

 

“How are you doing back there?” Mac called out after yet another 100 yards.

“Hoping that we’re at the cabin soon!” Jack answered, clenching his fists against the agony his leg brought him.

“Yeah, we’ll be there soon.” Mac cleared his throat and took a few deep breaths, “Are you warm enough?”

“I’m getting by…”

“Ready for another stretch?”

“As long as I don’t have to do anything…” Jack sighed, wincing as he thought about moving his leg.

“Okay, you know the rules…”

“Yes, call out if anything starts hurting worse, or if I start to get comfortably warm.”

“Correct!”

“You don’t have to ask that each and every time you take a breather…”

“No, but is it bothering you on a large scale?”

“No…”

“Okay, then I am going to keep asking, because it keeps my mind at ease…” Mac called back and pulled at the harness he had made to pull the improvised sleigh.

“Okay, kid… Just keep doing it then… Whatever you need…”

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Reaching the location of the cabin was one thing. The amount of snow blocking the entrance was the real problem.

“Okay, I’ve got to work a little to get us in there…” Mac said, stretching his shoulders. “Are you cold?”

Jack glared at his coworker, “What kind of question is that Mac? Of course I’m cold!”

“Good.” Mac grinned, shrugging out of his coat once more.

“Good?” Jack repeated with confusion, “How can that be good?”

“Means you’re not going to freeze to death just yet…” Mac answered and placed his coat over Jack and the sleeping bag. “You know why they find most hypothermia victims naked, right?”

“Oh, yeah…” Jack wanted to smack his own head, “That warm fuzzy feeling you get when you’re so cold that you don’t freeze anymore… Nope, I’m still on that stage where I just _feel_ like I’m going to freeze to death…”

“I said good, not comfortable… Didn’t I?” Mac smirked and dug out a shovel from Jack’s backpack.

“A little more comfort would be nice…” Jack sighed heavily and covered his nose with the sleeping bag again.

“You need a fire before I get started?”

“Think I can wait until we’re inside. It’s starting to get darker…” Jack noted, clearing his throat. “Gotta use that light while it’s still here…”

Mac nodded, and started shoveling snow away from the entrance area.

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Jack let his right hand travel down to check on his right knee. His knee felt like it was going to explode sometime soon, and his ankle wasn’t any better.

He managed to get two of his fingers under the ACE-wrap covering his leg, and frowned when the skin near his knee was hot to the touch. That meant it was bleeding inside… Leaving one hell of a contusion. Chances were, there was significant damage to his leg. More than he would be able to just shake off when the worst of the pain passed after a couple of days.

He forcibly rubbed his hands together, creating friction, creating heat. He was still cold, but not as painfully cold as earlier. The dry wool underwear, the sleeping bag and the reindeer skin did a good job of keeping him from freezing to death. But he was still freezing.  

“Hey Mac?”

The sound of Mac breathing heavily with the effort of shuffling snow died away, and his head came into view over the rim of the snow ditch.

“Yeah?”

“You know if we have any painkillers in the first aid kit?”

“Nothing you should be taking right now.” Mac sighed, “It could cause the injuries in your leg to bleed more, and it could also make the risk of hypothermia greater. Sorry, but I don’t think we should risk that…”

Letting out a whining sigh, Jack nodded. “Guess you’ve got a point there, buddy…”

“Just a few more minutes before I’m inside…” Mac informed as he went back to getting them inside the cabin.

“Man, this sucks…” Jack growled, biting back tears.

“Yeah, it does!” Mac agreed wiping away some sweat from his forehead. “Let’s hope there is a comfortable bed for you inside…”

“I’m not getting my hopes up…” Jack frowned, “Bad luck never does solo appearances…”

Mac finished clearing a ditch down to the entrance door.

“Well, maybe we’ve had enough bad luck? I mean, you messed up your leg AND took an ice-bath with your clothes on…” Mac smiled, opening the door. “Well, looks like the cabin is stocked… Let’s get you inside…”

“Wait, it wasn’t locked?”

“No, nothing other than a latch. Who would it be locked for? No one gets out here except us, maybe a couple of hunters and plane crash victims…” Mac answered rolling his eyes.

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Mac had unpacked Jack’s sleeping bag, it was dry thanks to a waterproof packing bag. He had placed the sleeping bag on the bed closest to the stove, ready to help Jack get into the bed.

“Okay, if you put your good leg under you, it’ll be easy for me to support you over to the bed.” Mac prompted, an waited for Jack to get ready.

“Okay, One. Two… Three!”

They both pushed to their feet, but Mac was left catching Jack when the man fainted and collapsed in his arms.

Mac eased Jack down on the floor again. He gathered the slightly larger man in his arms, one elbow under Jack’s knees, one under his arms. Then he picked him up with only a grunt revealing that that Jack wasn’t a particular lightweight with all his muscles, and carried him over to the bed.

“You know what buddy?” Mac asked without expecting an answer, “I think it’s a good thing you’re out cold for this. I know how much you despise being carried bridal style…”

He placed Jack in the bed. Checked Jack’s pulse, both at the neck and at his feet. Being pleased with the steady and strong beat he found at all three points, he tucked Jack in. Making sure he wouldn’t lose body heat.

Then Mac went on to fire up in the stove, and check out the rest of the cabin.

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He found a fully stocked pantry. It was full of canned and dried foods, and milk powder. Like the cabin was stocked for someone coming by in dire need of a help and food. Like it was some kind of emergency shelter.

The next door he opened was to an indoor outhouse. That was yet another thing to be grateful for. It meant that Jack didn’t have to go outside to get to the toilet, something which would have been the equivalent of mission impossible.

The last door Mac opened was to the wood storage. There was more wood there than Mac and Jack would need, which was comforting. He gathered up as much as he could lift, and carried it into the main room, settling it beside the stove.

Then he looked at Jack, who was still unconscious. He tried shaking Jack’s shoulder, but didn’t get any response.

Mac crawled into the bed, and zipped open the bottom end of Jack’s bag. Then he sat on his own knees and placed Jack’s cold feet against his own stomach, grimacing ever so slightly as the cold temperature stung against his skin.

“You really did it this time, didn’t you? Buddy…”

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Mac placed his own sleeping bag over Jack and his sleeping bag. Then he stepped outside and dragged his own backpack inside. He then emptied Jack’s backpack for dry sacks and placed the backpack beside the stove to dry. Well, first it had to thaw… -40 degrees froze everything solid.

Just as he was about to start doing something about Jack’s frozen clothes, the older agent let out a long soft moan, giving away that he had made his way back to the land of the conscious.

“How are you feeling Jack?”

“Really don’t wanna talk about that…” Jack grimaced. “It’s still cold if you wondered…”

Mac chuckled, “I thought two winter sleeping bags, two reindeer skins and wool underwear would at least offer you some heat…”

“Some, but I’m cold to the core, kid. I ain’t getting any warmer…” Jack informed, biting his lower lip. “How’d I end up in this here bed? I don’t remember climbing in it…”

“You passed out.”

“Passed out? Why?”

“That leg of yours really hurts, doesn’t it?” Mac said, it was more a statement than a question.

“Well, yeah…” Jack grimaced, “I’ve got no chance of hiding that…”

“I think you passed out from pain…” Mac clarified, “Only reason I can think of…”

“Okay, that’s embarrassing…”

“No, it isn’t…” Mac reasoned, “Not when you have an injury that swells up that much straight after the accident, in those temperatures… I say we take it easy here for a couple of days, see how things turn out. I’ll try to contact the Phoenix Foundation, try to arrange some kind of exfil.”

“Sounds like the best idea I’ve ever heard…” Jack noted as a shiver ran through him, causing him to let off a string of cusswords.

“Leg?”

“What else…?” Jack growled back, grimacing as he tried to defeat the agony his leg dished up for him. “Say, when is it going to get warmer in here? I’m freezing!”

“Well, I do have some rocks placed on the stove, thought they would act as bed-warmers afterwards. They would be great for that, just wrap them in a few sheets of newspaper, and voila… You’ve got yourself a jerry-rigged hot-water-bottle… Minus the water and the bottle…”

Jack grinned at Mac’s description of his idea, and he was in no doubt that it would work, once the rocks warmed up.

“But I kinda guess that the granite is just as cold as everything else around here…” Jack followed up, raising an eyebrow towards Mac.

“Yeah, takes a while to get the temperature up in here…” Mac sighed.

“That sucks…” Jack tilted his head back, yawning. “Should have been one of those pre-heated cabins. You know… One of those you’ve got an app for… Would’ve been nice…”

“Yeah, I’ve got to say… I’m all for old fashioned camping life, but right now… It would have been nice…”

Jack shuddered again, this hissing as he tried to override the pain.

“Not good for you to freeze like that…” Mac mumbled, stepping closer to Jack. “When you shiver, you move… That hurts your leg.”

“THANK YOU DOCTOR OBVIOUS!” Jack snarked back.

Mac looked at Jack, he knew he couldn’t blame Jack for being a tad temperamental. Pain did have that effect on the man. At least real pain with no guarantee for the pain to end.

Mac placed a few more logs in the stove, and took off most of his clothes. Then he looked at Jack.

“Are you able to scoot over just a little bit on your own?”

Jack attempted, but quickly had to resign, so Mac helped Jack a little closer to the wall. Freeing enough space for Mac by Jack’s side. Then he lifted the layers laying loosely over his friend, before he unzipped the sleeping bag and crawled in close to Jack. He made sure to lay very still, afraid to jostle Jack’s injuries.

He was surprised when Jack wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer. He expected Jack to be hesitant of any action that could cause his leg to light up with pain.

“Come here you little heat-source…” the older man smirked, when the blond tensed up. “You’re lying a mile away…”

“I just thought… Your leg…”

“Well, as long as you lay still…” Jack shrugged, “But there is no use in lying like this if you’re supposed to lay on the other side of the bed…”

“Yeah… I get that…” Mac chuckled lightly back, relaxing a bit now that he knew that Jack didn’t want to have him afraid of causing him pain.

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They laid in silence for what seemed like an hour or so, before Jack cleared his throat and chuckled to himself.

“What?”

“I was just thinking about something to say, but then I remembered that it could be taken the wrong way… Given our current situation…”

“Okay?”

Jack chuckled a little more, before he tilted his head towards Mac.

“It would be a little weird, telling you that I love you right now? Wouldn’t it?”

Mac couldn’t help but start laughing himself, nodding along as he tried to get enough air to answer.

“Yeah, it could be interpreted wrong…”

“Thought so…” Jack grinned back widely, before sighing. “Hey, let’s like… Let’s never mention this to anyone else… Okay?”

“Okay.” Mac agreed.

“Well, at least not until we start laughing about it…”

“I think we’re already laughing about it…” Mac chuckled, shaking his head.

“Yeah… You’re right!” Jack grimaced as he tried to change position ever so slightly. “Let’s not talk about it until it’s not the latest mission. Does that sound better?”

“Yeah, deal…”

“Man, this was so not the way I expected to share a bed with a young blonde…” Jack offered his biggest grin, one reserved especially for inappropriate jokes and the moment before he got to punch some nut-job who really, really deserved it.

“You’re impossible, you know that?” Mac asked rolling his eyes.

“Yeaaaah…” Jack dragged, “That’s why y’all love me so much, isn’t it?”

Mac huffed a laugh, “If you say so… Old man…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Starting to realize that this one might end up as a real multichapter too… (Because of who I am as a writer… I’m not good at endings.)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and that I made you grin just a little bit.


	3. Wake-up call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for the kudos!!!

It was the middle of the night, and Jack was rudely awakened by a stabbing pain in his knee. He wanted to scream out, an attempt of dulling the pain.

He tried not to make a sound, tried to breathe through it. Taking deep breaths, pressing the air out through his lips as he exhaled. It was pure suffering.

Jack tried to alter his position, tried to stop his leg from hurting as bad as it did.

Apparently he wasn’t doing the best job at keeping quiet, because Mac stirred beside him, clearing his throat as he woke up.

“You okay, big guy?” Mac yawned, “Sounds like you’re fighting a bit…”

“Feels like my knee’s trying to explode…” Jack admitted, arching his back in an attempt to get away from the pain.

“What do you need me to do?” Mac asked, placing his hand on Jack’s lower arm.

Jack growled, a deep guttural growl. It sounded primal and spoke volumes about the kind of pain the older man was in. The despair Mac saw in his eyes when he clicked the flashlight on, almost ripped out his heart. Jack’s reply didn’t make it any less painful.

“Make it stop…” Jack half begged, half sobbed. “Please…”

For the first time after he had gotten Jack back on shore, Mac felt panic grip at his heart. It was scary to see Jack this broken, without his usual tough guy barrier up. It was even worse knowing that all the choppers that could have pulled them out were either broken or weather-bound, and that the snowmobiles that were sent out instead would take up to four days to get there… Two days if the weather in the area didn’t worsen. (And then it would take them two to four days to get back to civilization.

And Jack wasn’t good…   
He was in pain.

“Did it come on quickly? Did you move? Jostle something?” Mac asked as he crawled out from under the sleeping bags, the room was almost warm enough to walk around without winter clothes inside. Still cold enough for Mac to shudder and reach for his woolen sweater. “Or has it gotten gradually worse since you hurt it?”

Jack drew a shaky breath, willing himself to calm down enough to form proper sentences.

“Jack?” Mac pushed, as he carefully removed the layers covering Jack’s leg.

“Sudden…” Jack grimaced, “Damn thing just flared up!”

“Okay, okay…” Mac nodded, unwrapping the leg. “I guess that’s a good sign…”

“Guess that’s a good sign? What? Why?” Jack grimaced, blinking away tears of agony.

“Then you could have just jarred something in it…” Mac tried to calm himself down. “Doesn’t have to be anything more serious than that…”

“And if it is?” Jack questioned nervously, trying not to freak out just yet,

“Ever heard of Acute Compartment Syndrome?” Mac asked.

“No…”

“Well, it’s basically when your muscle-groups swell up too much for the connective tissue to keep up with, which means that the muscles doesn’t get enough blood and oxygen.”

“I get that that would be a bad thing, but…” Jack had to stop and hold his breath for a few seconds to be able to finish his question, “…but how bad is it?”

Mac offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile, as he peeled back the final layer of ACE wrap. “Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet…”

“Okay, it’s that bad…” Jack figured, letting his head fall back against the mattress.

“Might not be…” Mac tried to console his friend, “Can be you just jostled it…”

“Let’s hope that…”

“Yeah… Let’s hope that…” Mac nodded and looked down at Jack’s leg.

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Jack’s leg was swollen and bruised, it didn’t look comfortable. But one thing kept Mac’s hope up, where the leg wasn’t bruised, it had a very natural and okay color.

“Okay, buddy… You’re going to hate me for the next couple of minutes. Okay?”

Jack recognized the warning of more pain to come, and braced himself. “Do your worst…”

Mac first felt for pulse at the foot, and relaxed as he found a steady and strong pulse there. If it was Acute Compartment Syndrome, it wasn’t that far advanced yet. Then he carefully placed his hands around Jack’s leg muscles. They were also swollen, just like his knee and ankle. But the way the muscles acted under Mac’s touch eased his mind even further. It was swollen, but soft.

“Gaaaahhhh… MAC! That hurts!” Jack gasped as Mac squeezed the leg, double checking the muscles.

“Sorry…” Mac muttered as he gently let his hands travel up to Jack’s swollen knee. He tried to block out the sight of Jack trying to squirm away from the pain. “It looks like we might be lucky…”

“Sure. Doesn’t. Feel. Lucky.” Jack bit out through gritted teeth.

“Wait a minute….” Mac mused an focused on Jack’s knee. There was something wrong, something painfully obvious too…

“What?” Jack managed before Mac’s hand slid the kneecap back to the center of the knee, earning him a howling cry from Jack.

“What the fuck was that Mac!” Jack yelled once his breathing came back to something resembling normal.

“Your kneecap was dislocated…” Mac justified, “Did it help?”

Jack laid there breathing for a while, before he nodded gingerly. “As a matter of fact, yeah…”

Jack relaxed, and tried to adjust his position on the bed. Only to start cussing as an old sailor again.

“What?” Mac asked, hovering over his friend.

“SLIPPED!” Jack cried back, causing Mac to put his hands over the knee again. And just as Jack had tried to explain, Mac found the patella inches away from where it should be….

So Mac slipped it back in place, and taped the cap in place.

“Looks like you’re in the clear…” Mac sighed in relief as Jack managed to get his breath under control for the second time in just as many minutes.

“No what’s it called?”

“Most likely no Acute Compartment Syndrome?”

Mac nodded and splinted Jack’s leg again.

“Most likely not…”

“What would you have done if?”

“Cut your leg open…” Mac answered as a matter of fact.

“Okay, let’s try to avoid that…” Jack sighed and looked at Mac. “Thanks… You’re the best…”

“Try and get some rest, Jack…” Mac sighed and guided Jack’s leg up on a rest he had made for it, careful not to move the joints.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, have to go… Hope you enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, next morning…

Jack was still asleep when Mac slipped out of the bed. He had to keep the fire going and maybe make something that could pass for breakfast.

They had to eat at least as many calories as they burnt, and with Jack’s injuries and the freezing cold. Well, they could use a good meal.

He got out oats and powdered milk, add a few raisins or some dried fruits towards the end of the cooking time and you’ve hopefully got yourself a tasty oatmeal porridge. Then you start melting some more snow for coffee.

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Both the coffee and the porridge was finished when Jack started to come around.

“How’s the leg?”

“We should really start bringing lots of those combat medicine syrettes filled with morphine, or maybe fentanyl lollipops on missions.”

“Bad, huh?”

“Yeah, bad…” Jack admitted, “But man, I have to admit, that coffee you’re brewing… Smells real tempting too…”

“I can’t believe you told Riley that you didn’t drink coffee…”

“When did I ever do that?”

“When we were questioning her…” Mac answered quickly, “I mean, you’re one of the worst coffee-holics I know about…”

“Can’t argue with that…” Jack half-grinned back, before he looked down towards his leg. “Man, I screwed up this time, didn’t I?”

Mac looked at Jack. He was tempted to lie, and say that it wasn’t all that bad. That they had had 15 or so missions that had gone worse than this one, without almost being suicide-missions from the start. But that would be lies, and it would be bad lies. Jack would know it instantly.

“Yeah, it’s kinda bad…” Mac finally said, “But we have been through worse, remember Cairo.”

“Hey… We don’t talk about Cairo…” Jack chuckled, for someone who had agreed to not talk about Cairo, like ever, they sure talked a lot about Cairo. “That leg of yours, it healed up after Cairo, right? Almost back to normal?”

Mac tried to smile, tried to offer some sort of reassuring smile. Truth was that he had learned not to limp, but he had to fight against the pain and he had to work with and against the weakened muscles in his leg every day.

“I’d say I’m back to about 85 percent… 90 some days…” Mac shrugged, truth was about 75 percent on the good days, and barely livable on the bad ones.

Jack nodded, he was too busy trying to ride out the pain to catch that Mac’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, and that the baby-blues seemed tired and empty.

“Good, then my leg can heal up that good too…”

 _Hopefully better._ Mac thought, he’d hate for Jack to have to suffer through more than he already did on a regular basis.

“Yeah, just give it a little time. Once we get home and they fix your leg, you’ll be back in no time.” Mac said and placed his hand on Jack’s forearm.

“Have you heard more from the rescue?” Jack asked after a few seconds. “Is it two or four days?”

“I contacted them a little while before you woke up. Based on how far they made it yesterday, they guessed on three days. –But of course the weather is a factor, and if this storm which rolled in keeps worsening…”

“I literally couldn’t have picked a worse time to get injured…”

“Yeah, you could…”

“How?”

“We could be stranded on a deserted island, trying to outrun a wildfire with that injury of yours…” Mac shrugged, “It could be worse…”

“Well, that doesn’t sound realistic…”

“Almost none of our missions sound realistic…” Mac countered.

“Touché…”

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“Freddy, think we can make it up that ridge up ahead?” Oscar asked, he tilted his head and brought his hand up to shade out the sun. They knew they would be driving into a blizzard soon enough, but so far they had only seen the heavy clouds hanging over the mountains to their east.

“I don’t know, but I know that it takes four hours more to drive around.” Fredrik answered gazing up at the same ridge, “How about I try to get up there first, if I make it… You just follow in my tracks, okay?”

“It’s fairly steep…”

“Nothing we can’t handle, huh?” Freddy grinned back. “Plus, I heard one of the guys we’re coming to rescue is in a great deal of pain. Better for us to make it there quick.”

“I’d say, better we make it there at all than we get stuck or run ourselves over on the way there…”

“Come on… I’ve made it up steeper hills than this…”

“On a different snowmobile, for sure! On a Lynx 400? These things are literal tractors… You really think we will get enough speed to get up there?”

“Sure…”

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The wind was howling outside, but the cabin was built well and had no air leaks.

The timber had warmed up, making the logged cabin warm and cozy. Well, to say it was cozy might be stretching the truth. It was a small cabin with only the simplest of furniture and a wooden stove to make food at. Might have been cozy enough under different circumstances.

But these were the circumstances they were dealt, and Jack couldn’t change that. He could only be grateful for the fact that they had a roof over their heads and walls to shield them from the conditions.

Jack jabbed the porridge with his spork. It wasn’t that he wasn’t hungry, but he didn’t have any appetite. His leg hurt intensely even when he kept it still.

“Not enjoying my culinary abilities there Jack?” Mac asked from where he sat by the 3x3 feet table on a simple wooden chair.

“Nah…” Jack shook his head a bit, still poking the food.

“Well, it’s either that chow there or snow-muffins…” Mac shrugged, he felt sorry for Jack, but they didn’t have that many options. “Sure you can’t get any food down?”

“I can… I just worry that I’ll be throwing it back up again within long…” Jack grumbled.

“Are you feeling sick…?”

Jack shook his head gently, before letting his gaze fall to his elevated leg. “Just in pain… You know how that makes me…”

Mac nodded. He and Jack shared that trait, neither of them really managed to eat right when they were hurting. Mostly out of fear for coughing it all back up in chunks later.

“Try to eat some. You probably need all the energy you can get.”

Jack nodded.

“How about coffee?” Mac asked, “You want some more coffee?”

Jack lifted his cup, looked at the last few drops of dark liquid and drained the cup. Then he held it out and nodded.

“Well, at least I don’t have to worry too much…” Mac smirked playfully, “It’s not too worrisome before you refuse coffee too…”

“I don’t think I’ve ever thanked no to more coffee, you know… Unless I’ve had like 7-8 cups already…”

Mac smiled and filled Jack’s cup up again.

“Yes, you have. After Sana’a and after Cairo…” Mac’s smile fell a little at the mention of their two worst missions to date.

“Hey, you were worst off after Cairo…” Jack pointed a finger towards Mac, “I had what can be described as cuts and bruises… But I was nervous as hell on your behalf.”

“Cuts and bruises and a GSW to the rear end…” Mac rolled his eyes.

“Hey, I thought we agreed not to talk about Cairo…” Jack argued, but his voice held no force.

“We kinda did, didn’t we?”

Jack nodded, then he flashed a smile. “Now, Sana’a… That was mainly because I set a new personal record for most bullets caught in the body without bleeding out before I could get medical help.”

“Yeah, I’m still kinda surprised that you made it out alive. I thought we were dead, for sure.”

“Sorry ‘bout that kid…” Jack drawled, “But you saved us with that big brain of yours…”

“No, Jack… That time, that was pure luck.”

“Well, luck can be an agent’s best friend.” Jack shrugged.

Mac nodded without a word.

“That being said, it’s always hope for the best but make room in your plans for when things go to shit.” Jack sighed.

“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.” Mac agreed as he sat back down on the wooden chair. “This certainly isn’t the best outcome of this mission.”

“Certainly isn’t the worst either, kid…” Jack shot in, “Sure feels like the worst right now, but you and me both know how bad missions CAN go…”

Mac nodded, “You’re holding up?”

“’Course I do.” Jack nodded, “You know me, I was born tough!”

“Yeah, back when dinosaurs walked the earth, I’ve heard you had to be a bit tough back then…” Mac teased.

“Hey, I ain’t that old!”

“Oh, you meant WW1?” Mac winked, “My grandpa used to tell me stories his grandpa told him!”

“I’m gonna get my revenge…” Jack stared at Mac, “You know that? Huh?”

“Yeah, I know.” Mac smirked, “I’m looking forward to it.”

Jack smiled and nodded. It was somewhat comforting the way they teased each other. They weren’t in immediate danger, and they knew from experience that the key right now was to keep the mood light and playful, even when the situation itself was rather dark or shitty. Sure they could bitch and moan about aches and such, but a little bit of gallows humor never hurt anybody.

 


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay Oscar… I'll run up it once without the sledge, then I'll drive down the same track to make it more compact…" Freddy thought out loud as he eyed the hill they had set their mind on going up. "Then you just go full speed up my tracks, and then I'll hook my sledge back on and I'll come up after you…"

"You're crazy… You know that?"

"It's been mentioned a time or two…" Freddy shrugged as he unhooked the sledge, "But life would be boring without me, right?"

Oscar shrugged, "It would be calmer without you… Safer… Not sure if I would go as far as to call it boring though…"

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure?"

"It's outweighed by my desire to stay safe and not get injured, that's where it is…"

Freddy shook his head as he got back on his snowmobile, he put it in gear and spun it around (as well as you can spin a Lynx 400 around) "Just gonna get some speed…"

"Good luck…" Oscar rolled his eyes, "It's been nice working with ya!"

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To Oscar's surprise Freddy made it all the way up the hill on the first try. Then he drove down right beside it, making the track slightly wider.

"You did it…"

"Damn straight I did it…" Freddy grinned triumphantly, "Told you I was gonna do it… Now, I just want to go up and down once more before we do it with the sledges…"

Oscar nodded and watched as Freddy lined up with the previous track and accelerated towards the steep hill once more. Again he made it up without any trouble, and came back down with a satisfied grin.

"Now you get up there… Remember, speed is your friend. There's nothing to look out for at the top…"

Oscar nodded, "Okay… See you at the top then…"

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He made it up without too much struggle. His snowmobile worked hard during the last 15 yards, but he made it to the top.

He drove a little further in on the plateau and stopped. He got off his snowmobile and stomped over to the top of the hill. He wanted to see this, his snowmobile was a little bit lighter and a little bit stronger than Freddy's Lynx. But Freddy had grown up on these things, it looked like he didn't have any more trouble riding that big tourer than when he was maneuvering a Ski-Doo Summit.

Oscar watched Freddy get lined up and push the throttle down. The snowmobile built up speed as fast as the specific make and model would.

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Freddy felt the snowmobile struggle. Nothing to worry about. The he felt it starting to sag down on the left, ready to bury itself in the snow.

Well, that was something he didn't want it to do.

He bailed out of the incline, steering it towards the side that was starting to get further down in the layers of snow. He made it around and gave full throttle back down the hill. He drove up the smaller hill on the other side and used the landscape to ensure that he would have more speed for his next attempt.

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Jack glared down at his leg, it was still held straight by his ski pole and almost all of their gauze and ACE-wrap. And it still hurt like you wouldn't believe.

And now another problem was starting to present itself, his bladder was just about full. And he didn't look forward to the trip across the floor to get to the 'outhouse'. No.

He looked towards his desired destination once more, before he looked over at Mac who was sitting by the table with a cup of coffee and a map.

He realized he would need help to get over there. Mac had almost ended up carrying him over there the last time he needed it, the operative word being almost.

He drew a deep breath before he knocked on the wall next to him, "Mac!"

Mac's head shot up, "Yeah?"

"Could you help an old guy over to the room down the hall again?"

"Sure…" Mac nodded and got up. "You want me on the right?"

Jack nodded, as Mac started helping him get to the edge of the bed.

"Hey, you know what Pete most likely would joke about right now?"

Mac shook his head.

"He would recommend amputation at the C3 vertebrae."

Mac chuckled, nodding. "Right, forgot about that horrible prank he sometimes pulls."

"He got me though… The first time…"

"What was that?"

Jack held up his right arm, moving the wrist, "Myanmar. First time I broke my wrist while working for DXS…"

Mac frowned, "Yeah, I get why you would fall for that prank that time… It was a bad looking break…"

Jack nodded, "After that Pete has made some kind of joke like that every time I ask him to come take a look at an injury…"

Mac nodded, "Yeah, he did the same to me last time I needed him. I wasn't all that amused…"

"Might have had a little thing to do with the fact that you were in pain…"

Mac nodded, "Yeah…"

"But he deserves to make that horrible joke…" Jack half-chuckled, half-groaned.

Mac nodded, "Just shows that he's exactly as messed up as the rest of us…"

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"Whoa! That was scary to watch!" Oscar gasped with wide eyes as Freddy pulled the snowmobile to a halt next to him. "I was sure you were going to get the Lynx over you…"

"Come on… You know it's not that hard to bail out…"

"No, but with the _tractor_ and the sledge…" Oscar motioned to the Lynx and the sledge, "I'm sure glad it wasn't me…"

"Wuss…" Freddy chuckled.

"Man, I'm glad mine's a little sportier…"

"Again… Wuss…"

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

 

“You could give me a little more space…” Freddy growled as he elbowed Oscar in the side, “I’m almost pressed up against the snow!”

“I said we should make the cave a little bigger. I’m right on the edge here! I have no space to give!”

“Alright, give me the shovel then! I’ll make the freaking cave a little bigger!”

“Then we have to get out of our sleeping bags again…”

“Yeah, of course! But MY sleeping bag won’t get wet from being pressed up against the wall here, and I won’t freeze my ass off! Hence, you won’t have to deal with me being cranky and possibly sick for the rest of this rescue mission!”

“OKAY OKAY…” Oscar growled, “I’ll hand you a G-D shovel! But you have to do the digging!”

 

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Pounding. Pounding. Pounding.   
That was what his leg was doing, pounding.

Right now he didn’t know what was worst, his knee or his ankle. They were both bad. And they both made it nearly impossible for him to sleep.

But at least he wasn’t freezing anymore, so he had that going for him.

“Have you heard any more from the rescue squad?” he drawled, he hated how much pain his voice admitted to. He knew it worried the kid.

“Got word they made it further today than what they expected. But they still have at least a full day of travel ahead of them.”

“So…”

“So if we’re lucky, they’ll be here late tomorrow evening. Of course we will have to wait until the next morning to take off again, because it is easier to keep you warm and comfortable in this cabin than in a snow cave or something.”

“Think comfortable might be stretching the truth a little too much…” Jack winced.

“You know what I mean…” Mac shot back, “It would likely be worse for you if we were hauled up outside now. I mean, the inside of a good snow  cave will be about 32 oF even down to -40 degrees… But in here we must be pushing 70-75 Fahrenheit. If not more!”

Jack nodded, “Guess you have a point there…”

 

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Oscar was the first one to wake up the next morning. He looked over at the snoring mess he shared the cave with and sighed. He had been on enough rescue missions with Freddy to know that he was NOT a morning person. And that if you wanted to wake him, you ought to have a peace offering like coffee or chocolate ready.

He unzipped his sleeping bag and put on his top layer again. He then kicked out the bag they had placed as the ‘door’ to the cave. As soon as he saw the weather outside, he knew they had a long day ahead of them.

The sky was cloudy, and it looked like it was still building. A storm that came quickly would pass quickly too. If it came slow, it would last. That was what his grandpa always said anyway, and mostly it held true.

He started brewing some coffee and prepared to wake Freddy.

 

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He had been awake for almost an hour. An hour of agony and self-pity. He tried remember breathing correctly. A trick he had learned during his childhood, but also had been taught when he finally made the unit.

Deep breaths, holding them for a couple of seconds and releasing it again slowly.

But now it was enough. He needed help. He needed comfort, he needed some relief.

“Mac…” Mac didn’t answer, “Hey Mac!”

Mac stirred beside him, blinked his eyes open and looked over. “What?”

“You’ve gotta help me…”

“M’kay… With what?”

“My leg hurts so freakin’ much!” Jack growled desperately, “I don’t know, just… Make it stop or something. Make it hurt less!”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I’ll cut this off here, because I am evil and all that.


	7. Chapter 7

 

 

“Jack… There’s not all that much I can do…” Mac sighed as he looked over at his friend, “I mean, the painkillers we have will make it bleed more and then it will swell more too… So I don’t want you to take those, I’m not really sure how the cold weather and that kind of contusion would mix, but most likely it would be a bad combination…”

Jack nodded, “Yeah, I don’t want the painkillers since that could end up making this worse… But I need you to help me, make it stop!”

Mac furrowed his brows in thought, “Only thing I can come up with that would help right now is icing it. But of course that would make you colder…”

“I don’t care! I’m warm enough right now! But my leg hurts like crazy!”

“Okay…” Mac nodded, “I’ll go out and throw some snow into one of the dry-sacks. It might help a little…”

“Right now a little would go a long way kid…” Jack winced as Mac rolled out of bed.

 

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“We’ll keep on heading 52 degrees for roughly twelve miles, then we will have to consider the terrain from there on.” Freddy announced as he set the compass course. “Most likely we will have to drive up at 350 degrees for three miles or so, before we go over to 65 degrees. Then when we intercept with our original course, we go back to 52 degrees…”

“Sounds good…” Oscar nodded as he shoved another spoonful of his breakfast into his mouth. “But if the terrain is simple enough, we just keep on 52 all the way to Tracker’s Cabin.”

Freddy nodded in return, “Exactly.”

Oscar looked over at the snowmobiles and yawned, “Will be good to pick them up and be on our way back to civilization.”

“Will be good to know that the man who needs medical care will be on his way to just that.” Freddy said deep in thought.

“Yeah, even if it’s still a couple of days until he’ll be inside an actual hospital.” Oscar sighed.

“Well, at least it’s a step in the right direction.” Freddy stretched his back, “Can’t be good to be stuck in an old cabin in the middle of nowhere with a leg injury.”

“Fractured leg, was that what he had?”

Freddy shrugged, “Leg injury of some sort. Sounded like it was a little more than your run of the mill simple fracture, but I don’t know any more than you do Oscar.”

“But we could be lucky, right?” Oscar looked up towards Freddy, “Could be some drama queen with a badly sprained ankle, right?”

“Nah… Wouldn’t dare to hope for that…” Freddy sighed, “Not mid-winter, a few hundred miles from the nearest road. My bet is that we meet some tough ass guy who’s in some real pain. At least more pain than you were in when you slipped in the shower down at the station…”

“Shut up…” Oscar laughed, “That actually hurt.”

“Yeah, we all heard that!” Freddy smirked back, “But me and the rest of the boys expected you to have a few fractures, or at least a dislocation, judging by how much you were screaming.”

“Are you guys ever going to let me forget that?”

“Not until someone does something more embarrassing…” Freddy grinned, “And that might take a while.”

“Why…? Why do I have to be on this rescue with _you…_ ” Oscar rolled his eyes.

“Because I’m the best at finding places where it’s possible to drive a snowmobile on our squad.”

“Okay, why did _I_ have to come then? Couldn’t it be John or Tony or someone?”

“Well, _THAT’S_ because _you_ are the best at keeping me from doing crazy-dumb shit. And you know it.”

“Yeah…” Oscar sighed, “It’s my curse…”

Freddy let out a short laugh, “So, ready to get going?”

Oscar shoved the last spoonful of his breakfast into his mouth and nodded.

“Start up your snowmobile and pack your bag away. We’re moving in 5 to 10 minutes.” Freddy nodded and started his machine so that the motor wouldn’t be ice-freaking-cold when they started driving.

 

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“How does that feel?” Mac asked as he very gently draped two snow-filled dry-sack over Jack’s multicolored leg. He didn’t miss the fact that Jack flinched at the small, small weight placed on top of his leg.

“Good.” Jack bit out through gritted teeth. “Feels like it’s gonna help in a short minute or so.”

Mac nodded, “You looked like it hurt when I set them down on your leg…?”

Jack huffed a laugh, “Yeah. Apparently I’m a wuss.”

“Trust me, that’s the last thing you are.” Mac stood back up and patted Jack’s shoulder. “But did it hurt?”

Jack nodded reluctantly, “Yeah.”

Mac flashed a worried frown.

“Relax, kid…” Jack attempted to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes, “It’ll be alright. It’s already a little better.”

“You sure?”

It was as close to a lie that it could be without actually being a lie, but Jack nodded. “Yeah. Better.”

Mac nodded and looked at Jack’s leg. “You sure?”

“Won’t be dancing or running around anytime soon, but it feels better.” Jack answered and took a deep breath, at least the cold was a little soothing even if it didn’t help a whole lot.

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

 

Oscar cussed as he realized he was stuck and had to radio Freddy who was a hundred yards ahead of him.

“Fred.”

He saw Freddy stop his snowmobile and a few seconds later he heard him answer over the radio. “Yeah?”

“Turn around a bit. I buried this piece of shit.”

“. . . You’re stuck?”

“Yeah.” Oscar sighed, “And I won’t be able to lift it out on my own… Unless I want to spend more than a day on the task.”

“Coming…”

Oscar could hear the smirk on his partner’s lips as he prepared to turn his snowmobile around and head back to him to help him get unstuck.

“Go screw yourself…” he glared as Freddy came close enough to see and speak to without relying on the radio.

“What? Why?” he chuckled, as he stepped off his snowmobile and sank a little into the snow. “Whoa, you really sank it in there…”

“Shut up…” Oscar frowned, “Help me out of this hitch and then we can go save those guys.”

“Pretty sure it’s just the one guy that needs saving…”

“We’re picking up both of ‘em…” Oscar rolled his eyes.

“Okay, so… I’m gonna try to lift this side, you hang your weight on the other side and give a little throttle. NOT MUCH, cause you might run over me with the belt and I’m not a fan of that. It has happened once and I have no plan of repeating that incident.”

“Ouch, did you get hurt?”

Freddy shook his head, “Actually no. But it was scary.”

“Okay, copy that. Not full throttle.”

 

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Mac went outside and picked up Jack’s frozen clothes that he had hung on a wire outside of the cabin. They were frozen solid. Mac picked one and one item down and gave it a good couple of whacks against the outside of the cabin, the lumps of ice shattered around the fabric. Once he was sure that there weren’t any larger lumps of ice left.

Then he went in and hung the clothes items over a chair in front of the stove. It didn’t take long after that before the clothes were dry.

“Well, now we just have to wait for rescue…” Mac sighed and nodded towards the clothes.

“Hope they’ll get here before tomorrow…” Jack muttered and let out a controlled breath.

“Even if they do, we probably won’t move out before tomorrow anyway.”

Mac could almost feel Jack frowning, without even looking directly at him, “Why? Why can’t we just get going towards home as soon as the opportunity arrives?”

“You’ve been on rescue missions yourself…” Mac started, “Your condition isn’t life threatening, even though there is no doubt that it’s painful. And the rescue team will probably be tired from being out in these weather conditions. It’s safer if we just take an extra night here. It’s almost dusk anyway…”

Jack nodded reluctantly. “Okay… Yeah… Get it…”

Mac studied Jack, almost on the verge of asking how he was holding up, for the nth time since Jack took a tumble down the hill and messed up his leg. But he decided not to, because it would likely annoy his partner to be asked if his most likely broken, definitely messed up, leg was still bothering him.

“I just wish I could be back home already. Hell, I’d even be willing to spend a few nights down at medical…”

“Don’t tell me you have a fever too…” Mac mock frowned, “I get it though. That leg ain’t no joke…”

“It’s a bad joke, that’s what it is.” Jack returned, rolling his eyes.

Mac nodded, “Yeah, nothing funny about it…”

 

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“Okay, if we manage to make it the rest of the way without getting stuck and spending a couple of hours on getting a snowmobile loose, we’ll be there before it’s time to turn in for the night.” Freddy sighed as he collapsed back on the seat of his snowmobile.

Oscar nodded, “Sorry, didn’t mean to…”

“Of course you didn’t.” Freddy almost chuckled as he breathed heavily. “Getting stuck is inevitable, especially in this snow.”

Oscar nodded, “Yeah, it is. Isn’t it?”

Freddy nodded again, “Just please… Next time…”

Oscar nodded slowly, waiting for Freddy to finish.

“Next time you get off the snowmobile and I get the easy task…”

Oscar chuckled, “Okay, let’s try to avoid getting stuck a next time then…”

Freddy nodded, “Yeah… Ready to get going?”

Oscar nodded, “Yeah, we spent too much time on this.”

They both straddled their respective snowmobiles, turned the key, pulled the pull cord. Freddy checked his map and compass, and decided on a line to drive, he tucked it away again and headed off. Oscar followed suit.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I’m going to cut this one off here. I have this semi-plan of making this a two/three chapter thing.


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